FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

This past weekend, Austinites were exposed to something never before done in Central Texas: indoor wakeboarding. Under360 Productions conducted a rail jam in the Austin Convention Center during the Austin Boat Show. The event consisted of a competition where invited riders were pulled by a high-speed winch across two pools with 25,000 gallons of water and a rail/ramp structure in between. Competitors included pros as well as up-and-coming riders from the Central Texas area.

Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday afternoon exhibition riders pulled out their tricks in front of a large boat show crowd. The crowd cheered as riders grinded, jumped and spun from pool to pool. Mitch Bergsma even threw a Tantrum off the up-ramp of the funbox receiving a tremendous uproar from the crowd. Girls from Bikinis Bar & Grill were also there to provide some nice scenery as Winch Girls between tricks. Returning the rope to each rider before their runs would begin.

The real excitement began at 6pm Saturday night in-front of a packed house. Ten wakeboarders and two wakeskaters competed for prizes, provided by Helium and Gatorboards, in a best trick contest. Adding more excitement to the event were the Lonestar Roller Girls, helping in every way they could. From Winch Girls to running mops, they were great help. The wakeboarders were broken into two heats of 5 riders. The first heat featured Mitch Bergsma, Josh Wright, Josh Rice, Billy Garcia, and Kyle Reed. It was a close heat with multiple riders gapping and transferring to the a-frame. Ultimately Josh Wright, Kyle Reed, and Josh Rice advanced to the finals.

In between the two wakeboard heats, Bret Little and Savannah Barber competed for best trick on a wakeskate. Savannah is a Gatorboards rider and the only female to hit the rails. Bret’s backlip of the entire funbox, a kickflip attempt and a shuv-it took home the winning prize.

The second heat of wakeboarders was intense with Tom Fooshee, Brett Hickey, Ian Udell, Ross Skrudland, and Travis Putman competing for 3 spots in the finals. Tom and Travis successfully completed transfers from the funbox to the a-frame. Brett and Ian were launching off the funbox for aerial maneuvers. The a-frame was Ross’ target launching a couple backside spins before dislocating his shoulder in the air on one of his tricks. Tom, Brett and Travis would advance to finals to meet the riders from the first heat.

The finals were also an exciting affair as riders became more comfortable with the rails. Tom Fooshee took home first place, with Travis Putman and Kyle Reed following a close second and third, respectively. All of these riders are regulars at the Texas Ski Ranch where they can practice their rail riding on a regular basis.

"We feel the Grind was a very successful addition to the Austin Boat Show and we were glad to be a part of it," says Jeff Alford of Under360. “We also want to thank Tigé Boats, Lexus of Austin, Magnum Trailers, Grinch by Distortion, Boardstop.com, Boardflix.com, Wakeboarder.com, Wakeskating.com, Gatorboards, Helium, Anarchy Eyewear, Cobian Sandals, and everyone who helped build the structures. Without them this event would not have been possible.”

THE AUSTIN BOAT SHOW
The Austin Boat Show is produced by Town Lake Productions, Inc. in conjunction with the Capital Area Boating Trades Association.
www.AustinBoatShow.com

UNDER360, LLC.
Dave Rowe, Jeff Alford and Valerie Fuller founded Austin-based Under360 L.L.C. in July of 2003. Under360 is an Austin company dedicated to promoting the riders, the community, and the sport of wakeboarding.
www.Under360.com

We’d like to give a special thanks to The 360 Wakeboard Club and all of our other sponsors. This event would not be possible without your hard work and support.